The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay revealed at E3

“Open your eyes…”

These were the first words that ushered in the footage of the latest Legend of Zelda title. But that’s not all. Today we finally got the game’s official English title: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

With the footage, we got some interesting information about the newest title in the Zelda series. First of all, the opening lines all but confirm the possibility of having fully voiced characters in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Considering the repeated phrase “open your eyes”, and the subject being Link, it’s likely this voice is going to be related in some way.

My assumption is that the voice may be the Master Sword and, in particular, the voice of Fi. Why do I say this? Well take a look at this image:

While it’s nowhere near as clear of an image as the title card (seen in the header), the image clearly shows the Master Sword in a state of disrepair. The hilt is rusted, the blade is chipped, and the Temple of Time which once housed the blade is even more overgrown than it was in Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess. Considering the fact that the Master Sword has always been on some sort of pedestal in a seemingly man-made area other than in Twilight Princess, this may also confirm that the game will take place after that game.

Alternatively, it could be after Skyward Sword, but I’m putting my money on the former more than the latter. My reason actually comes from the image above. While it may not look familiar to some, the worn and torn stone bridge is none other than the Bridge of Eldin from Twilight Princess. What this means for the final product has yet to be seen, but maybe the book Link is seen carrying around might be related to a search for Midna? Could this be a direct sequel to Twilight Princess? Only time will tell…

Another interesting feature in Breath of the Wild is the the number of weapons at Link’s disposal. In the above image, we see Link wielding a spear for the first time in the entirety of the Legend of Zelda series (The Wind Waker doesn’t count since it wasn’t a carried weapon). We also see the first of the common enemies we have ever seen in Breath of the Wild. It appears to share similarities with Bokoblins from The Wind Waker, as well as Bulblins from Twilight Princess.

By looking at the art style of this enemy alone, it’s clear that Breath of the Wild won’t be sharing its art style with any previous Legend of Zelda title. While we originally saw similarities with Skyward Sword, we simply don’t have that comical look that the Wii title had.

One last thing to note from the brief footage is Link’s reliance on the environment in comparison to previous games. Here we see Link cutting down a tree to create a bridge over a chasm (he was also using a large axe to do so). In other scenes, we see Link hunting and cooking. Could this game have a survival aspect to it?

If you want more information on the game, check out part two of our The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild coverage here!